The present disclosure relates to material handling of sheet goods and, specifically, to a retail display for somewhat flexible, semi-rigid to semi-flaccid sheet goods such as chair mats and floor mats.
Semi-rigid to semi-flaccid sheet goods such as desk mats, floor mats, carpet mats and chair mats used to protect an underlying surface present special challenges when it comes to presenting the goods in an attractive display that will also facilitate selection of the goods from the display by a purchaser. For example, chair mats for office and home use are well known. Such chair mats can simply be rectangular, or can have a main portion on which the desk chair rolls and a forward lip portion which is adapted to extend partially under the desk well, on which the feet of the person sitting in the chair may rest. Chair mats which are to be applied over carpeting typically have short protrusions, which can be relatively sharp spikes, on the undersides thereof that hold the mats firmly in place on the carpet surface. Typical chair mats are planar sheets of a polymeric material, such as vinyl plastic.
Such chair mats are now being found increasingly in retail outlets, compounding the need for a safe display of such goods. While such mats may be boxed, the boxes add cost and can be themselves unwieldy. As a result, boxes are not used to any great extent in the retail environment. Thus, with increasing retail activity, new displays are also required. Such chair mats present display problems since, absent the use of boxes or some support, they do not stand alone unless wound. In other words, when placed on its edge, a typical chair mat will not remain upright, but instead will bend under its own weight, which can be typically ten pounds or more. Even standing on edge in a wound or partially wound state, however, the mats are relatively unstable. Consequently, displays of chair mats, and other semi-rigid to semi-flaccid sheet goods present some special challenges.
This challenge is typically addressed by the use of a hanging display that suspends the sheet goods from a top edge so that the weight of the sheet goods acts to maintain the goods in an essentially planar configuration. The hanging display typically has horizontal display rods with a number of hooks depending from the display rod to receive for display the chair mats or other sheet goods of similar character. The goods can be suspended from the hooks in either a planar or folded conformation. The suspended sheet goods can be removed from the hooks by a retail consumer with relative ease so long as they are capable of lifting the weight of the goods. While such hanging displays operate quite satisfactorily in some locations, the hanging display may become unstable due to the weight of the goods if the load on the display is not maintained in an essentially balanced presentation of the goods.
Thus, there still remains a need for a more stable retail display of semi-rigid to semi-flaccid sheet goods such as chair mats and floor mats.